Comments on: Dear Fed: Why do you hate us (and other savers) so much?http://walt.lishost.org/2013/09/dear-fed-why-do-you-hate-us-and-other-savers-so-much/
The library voice of the radical middle.Tue, 09 Jun 2015 15:59:42 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3By: ksolhttp://walt.lishost.org/2013/09/dear-fed-why-do-you-hate-us-and-other-savers-so-much/comment-page-1/#comment-106295
Mon, 23 Sep 2013 18:43:40 +0000http://walt.lishost.org/?p=5336#comment-106295Well we were getting 2% the last time we took any CDs out, but it looks like rates have dropped since then, so if I took out one today I’d get nowhere near that. We’ve done better at credit unions than at banks, but still, interest rates are pretty pathetic right now.
]]>By: Walt Crawfordhttp://walt.lishost.org/2013/09/dear-fed-why-do-you-hate-us-and-other-savers-so-much/comment-page-1/#comment-106219
Thu, 19 Sep 2013 15:01:59 +0000http://walt.lishost.org/?p=5336#comment-106219ksol: Where do you get 2% on 5-year CDs? The best we can seem to do these days is 1.9% on 10-year CDs…

Yes, we’re delighted to be debt-free (actually, we’ve always owned Honda Civics–now one Honda Civic–and until we moved to Livermore we always lived in starter houses, to the dismay of our realtors)…but without steady (or, given my startling book sales lately, any) income, we find the “you’re not supposed to save” Fed stance particularly threatening.

The possibility of a medical situation at some point in the future–the kind that drains assets over several years rather than the kind likely to be covered by Medicare or health insurance–is part of the problem.

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Thu, 19 Sep 2013 14:41:09 +0000http://walt.lishost.org/?p=5336#comment-106218Whoops. Obligation to service that debt. Missed a word there… need more coffee.
]]>By: ksolhttp://walt.lishost.org/2013/09/dear-fed-why-do-you-hate-us-and-other-savers-so-much/comment-page-1/#comment-106217
Thu, 19 Sep 2013 14:39:17 +0000http://walt.lishost.org/?p=5336#comment-106217Walt – we’re in the same boat. For years we’ve lived below our means so that we can manage an emergency. We’ve bought smaller to mid-sized used cars and less house than we can afford. We’re rewarded with 2% interest rates on 5-year CDs for that. Would I do it the same way? Yes. I think many people believe debt gives them freedom to get what they want. Our attitude is that debt pins us down through obligation to service. So we’ll definitely continue that strategy, but it is irritating — especially when I’m supposed to be sympathetic to people in the news who overbought and over-borrowed and are now in trouble and need help. I’m not thinking of the people with medical emergencies and the like that took them down. More like the story I saw on the family that took out a home-equity line to take their kids to Disneyworld or the financial writer who bought a half-million dollar house on an income about a tenth of that.
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